Men's Tennis . May 12, 2018

Gamecocks Outlast ODU; Advance to Sunday's Round of 32

May 12, 2018

No. 29 South Carolina 4, No. 32 Old Dominion 1

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — No. 29 South Carolina men’s tennis (19-8) opened the 2018 NCAA Tournament with a 4-1 win over Old Dominion (19-7) to secure a spot in Sunday’s round of the 32. The Gamecocks, who will play top-ranked Wake Forest in the final match of the Winston-Salem Regional, have now won three straight first-round matches in the NCAA Tournament.

Carolina overcame a slow start in doubles and edged out a pair of 7-5 wins at Nos. 1 and 2 to clinch the Gamecocks’ sixth doubles point in their last seven matches.

South Carolina jumped out to a 2-0 lead after a dominant showing by Yancy Dennis at No. 4 singles, which was followed by wins from the Gamecocks’ two ranked singles players, No. 59 Paul Jubb and No. 40 Gabriel Friedrich, to clinch the match win.

South Carolina improves to 7-7 all-time in the first round of the NCAA Tournament under the current 64-team format. The Gamecocks, who had never played ODU in the NCAA Tournament prior to Saturday’s win, picked up a second win over the Monarchs on the season after winning 6-1 in a non-conference match back in February.

QUOTABLE

On how he thought both teams came out to start the tournament
“We knew they wanted to play us. They came out like animals and caught us by surprise a little bit. No matter how much we prepared for it, it was still real when they came out. Our guys responded well and brought the energy.”

On how the team was able to outlast ODU
“That’s a good team that we just played. We knew it going in. They’re very well coached and very well motivated. That team is inspired; there’s no doubt about that. We hung around; we’ve been training like we needed to hang around. The training from the last two weeks really took its toll on them today, and, by the end, we took their legs out. With that, it was just a matter of time.”

On looking ahead to Sunday’s round of 32
“We wanted to get tested today. In order for us to take down Wake tomorrow, we needed to be tested. That’s something we wanted, and we got it. Guys were clutch, they came through, and we’ll be ready tomorrow.”

DOUBLES

South Carolina edged out the Monarchs in a tight set of doubles matches as the Gamecocks overcame a loss on court three to take the point with wins on courts one and two.

The Gamecocks’ No. 1 pair, Harrison O’Keefe and Yancy Dennis, earned a huge break to even the match at 5-5 and later took the lead as both the Nos. 1 and 2 pairs pulled ahead 6-5 within moments of each other.

“They were serving for the doubles point, and we eked it out 7-5,” recounted Goffi post-match. “Heck of a job on [court]one to steer that match our way, and it took the wind out of their sails a little bit to be totally honest.”

O’Keefe and Dennis closed out a 7-5 win to bring the Gamecocks even in the doubles point. Moments later, seniors Thomas Mayronne and Gabriel Friedrich battled to a 7-5 win as well to clinch the sixth doubles win for South Carolina in seven matches.

DOUBLES (3,1,2*)

1. (50) Harrison O’Keefe/Yancy Dennis (SC) def. Aziz Kijametovic/Francois Musitelli (ODU) 7-5

2. (58) Thomas Mayronne/Gabriel Friedrich (SC) def. Adam Moundir/Javier Jover Maestre (ODU) 7-5

3. Vincent Schneider/Jannik Giesse (ODU) def. Wood Benton/Paul Jubb (SC) 6-3

SINGLES

Yancy Dennis (26-12) dominated Francois Musitelli on court four, winning 6-1, 6-1 to give the Gamecocks a 2-0 advantage in the match.

No. 59 Paul Jubb took out Adam Moundir 6-3, 6-3 on court one to get South Carolina within a point from clinching the match.

No. 40 Gabriel Friedrich battled to a tough 7-5 win in the opening set and followed up with a dominant 6-2 second set to see the Gamecocks through to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

SINGLES (4,3,1,2*)

1. (59) Paul Jubb (SC) def. Adam Moundir (ODU) 6-3, 6-3

2. (40) Gabriel Friedrich (SC) def. (117) Aziz Kijametovic (ODU) 7-5, 6-2

3. Vincent Schneider (ODU) def. Thomas Mayronne (SC) 6-2, 6-1

4. Yancy Dennis (SC) def. Francois Musitelli (ODU) 6-1, 6-1

5. Harrison O’Keefe (SC) vs. Jannik Giesse (ODU) 6-2, 5-7, 1-0, unfinished

6. Wood Benton (SC) vs. Michael Weindl (ODU) 1-6, 6-1, 3-3, unfinished

GAMECOCK NOTABLES

No. 29 South Carolina (19-8), which has won two of its last three matches overall, is now just one win shy of the first back-to-back 20-win seasons since 1984-85.
The Gamecocks have the second-highest single-season win total (19) under Head Coach Josh Goffi and have tallied six wins over ITA top-40 opponents.
South Carolina is now 11-13 all-time in opening-round matches at the NCAA Tournament and 7-7 under the current 64-team format, winning its last three first-round matches.
With a win in Sunday’s round of 32, South Carolina can notch the eighth all-time appearance in the Sweet 16 and tie for the best NCAA Tournament finish under the current format.
No. 59 Paul Jubb (23-9) has gone 2-1 since taking over as the Gamecocks’ No. 1 singles player against Clemson on Apr. 20.
No. 40 Gabriel Friedrich (24-13) leads South Carolina with seven wins over ranked opponents on the season.
No. 58 Gabriel Friedrich and Thomas Mayronne (8-2) have not dropped a match in their last eight outings.
South Carolina has won the doubles point in six of its last seven matches.

UP NEXT FOR THE GAMECOCKS

South Carolina advances to the NCAA Tournament round of 32 where it will play top-ranked Wake Forest on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex.

For updates, continue to check back with GamecocksOnline.com or follow the team on social media (@GamecockMTennis).